Who Uses Consultants?
When addressing the question who hires consultants?, the definition of being a consultant needs to be settled first. It is simple enough. It is generally accepted to be a person who gives expert advice professionally (Oxford Concise English Dictionary).
In my view it is also someone who is determined to become a successful independent consultant and who approaches their search for clients with the knowledge that they will be able to establish solid business relationships with enough people who will want hire them for expert advice.
Two other important questions to be considered are: who hires the experienced independent consultants that have grown strong reputations over the years and who already have a large network of regular clients? And who is it that will likely hire the aspiring independent consultant who is just starting out?
Assuming established consultants have been newcomers to their market at some stage, the reality will be that they will have established a reputation and will have proven themselves to be very valuable to the clients they have served since they set-up their consulting business. They will be hired because of these attributes: the services they provide will have become reliable and well-suited to their client base; they will have developed an understanding of the businesses and have a mature professional relationship with the individuals they communicate with.
The independent consultant should provide them with easy access to his or her expertise when they need it. They do not need to employ an expert member of staff and find other work for the employee to fill up their day. The client will also not need to pay for holidays or sick-leave. Savings like these will matter especially to small businesses interested in lower operating costs wherever possible.
Equally importantly, a consultant is likely to be especially-valued if he is known to reinforce his existing expertise continuously by buying the journals and keeping-up his memberships of the professional bodies that will ensure he stays fully up-to-date on professional matters, and even to spend money on essential training courses, sparing clients the need to include any of these often substantial annual training costs in their own budgets.
However the most fundamental reason why a well established independent consultant will be regularly hired is because of reliability. He will be going out of his way to make sure that his clients can feel comfortable that he will always be there for them, ready to help them meet challenges. Very often they cannot feel confident that their own staff would be so diligent.
It is unavoidable to say that a newcomer seeking to establish himself in most kinds of consultancy will have a tougher job today than ever before. At the same time as there is more awareness among business managers of the valuable role of consultancy support, more and more employees are being exposed to the work that the consultants are doing for their bosses and are thinking, “I could do that.”
If they decided to take the risk of leaving full time employment, the majority of them survive for a time on work passed to them by former managers who they shared a mutual respect with when they were employees. But these days, it takes a determined entrepreneur to find and set himself up as an independent consultant where he will survive and, in due course, prosper without any corporate protection.
Market research is an essential part of the aspiring independent’s business planning. This period also provides an excellent opportunity to ask for meetings with business managers who do not yet use consultancy services – planting a seed that can be nurtured in the months ahead, so that a portfolio of prospects can be developed.
Who will actually hire him? It will depend on how good he can market himself and what expertise he has to offer. “Mr Company Director, we have met before and you have explained why your company doesn’t employ consultants. I have thought more about our conversation and it occurred to me …
